The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right. It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house

Proverbs 21:8-9

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Read in English

Translation by Xenia

Η 9η ημέρα του dhul-Hijjah είναι η ημέρα του Αραφάτ. Είναι αυτή η ημέρα, όταν οι προσκυνητές συγκεντρώνονται στο πεδιο του βουνόυ του Αραφάτ, προσεύχονται και παρακαλουν τον Κυριο τους. Η ημέρα του Αραφάτ έχει μεγάλη σημασία στο Ισλάμ επειδή αυτή είναι η ημέρα που Αλλάχ ολοκληρωσε την  αποκάλυψη Του στον  αγγελιοφόρο του (sAllâhu alaihe WA-Sallam).

Αναφέρεται στην Sahîhayn (δηλαδή Sahih al-Sahih Bukhari και Muslim), από τον Umar Ibn al-Khattab (Radhi Allahu anhu) ότι ένας Εβραιος είπε:

“Ω Αμίρ αλ-Muminîn (Ω επικεφαλής των μουσουλμάνων)! Υπάρχει ένας στίχος στο Κορανι, που αν ειχε αποκαλύφθει σε εμάς, τους Εβραίους, θα είχαμε λάβει εκείνη την ημέρα ως Eid (φεστιβάλ).

Ο Umar ρώτησε: «Ποιος στίχος;

Είπε:« Την σημερον ημέρα έχω τελειοποιήσει τη θρησκεία σας για σας, ολοκληρώθηκε χάρη μου σε σας, και Εχω επιλέξει για εσάς το Ισλάμ ως θρησκεία σας. “[Σούρα al-Maidah (5): 3]

Ο Umar (Radhi Allahu anhu) είπε: «Γνωρίζουμε ποια ηταν η  ημέρα και τον τόπο στον οποίο αποκαλύφτηκε αυτός ο στίχος στον αγγελιοφόρο του Αλλάχ (sAllâhu alaihe WA-Sallam). Ήταν όταν στεκόταν στο Αραφάτ μια  Παρασκευή. “

Η ημερα του Αραφάτ είναι η ημέρα κατά την οποία ο Αλλάχ πήρε το συμβόλαιο από τις απογόνους του Αδάμ (alaihis-Salam), αναφέρθηκε ότι  ο Ιμπν Αμπάς (Radhi Allahu anhu) αφήγηθηκε: Ο αγγελιοφόρος του Αλλάχ (sallAllâhu alaihi WA-Sallam) ειπε:

“(Όταν ο Αλλάχ δημιούργησε τον Aδαμ  (alaihis-Salam) , ο Αλλάχ πήρε συνθηκη  από αυτόν σε ένα χώρο, Na’mân την ημέρα του Αραφάτ. Μετα εξεγαγε όλους τους απογόνους που θα γεννηθουν  μέχρι το τέλος του κόσμου, από γενιά σε γενιά , και τους απλωσε μπροστά Του, προκειμένου να λάβει ένα συμβόλαιο και απο αυτους, επίσης.  Τους Μίλησε  πρόσωπο με πρόσωπο λέγοντας: «Δεν ειμαι ο Κυριος σας;”
και όλοι απάντησαν: «Ναι, μπορούμε να μαρτυρησουμε».  Ο Αλλάχ, στη συνέχεια Εξήγησε οτι  Είχε  ολη  την ανθρωπότητα  να καταμαρτυρησει οτι Ήταν Δημιουργός Τους και  Ο Μόνος Αξιος της λατρειας τους.

Είπε:

“Αυτό ειναι  σε  περίπτωση που ( η ανθρωπότητα) θα πει  την Ημέρα της Αναστάσεως,« Σίγουρα, εμείς αγνοούσαμε του παρόντος. Δεν είχαμε ιδέα ότι εσείς, Αλλάχ, ήσταν ο  Κυρίος μας. Κανείς δεν μας είπε ότι θα έπρεπε να λατρεύουμε μόνο Εσας. “

[(Sahîh by Shaikh al-Albanî in Silsilah al-Ahâdîth as-Sahîhah vol: 4, no: 1623]

Πραγματικα η ημερα του Αραφατ ειναι μια ευλογημενη ημερα και δεν υπαρχει μεγαλυτερη συνθηκη απο αυτην την συνθηκη.

Η ημερα του Αραφάτ είναι μια ημέρα συγχώρεσης από τις αμαρτίες, της ελευθερία από την φωτιά  της κολασης για τους ανθρώπους που βρίσκονται στο πεδιο του Αραφάτ. Η  A’ishah (Radhi Allahu anha) αφηγηθηκε οτι  ο  αγγελιοφόρος του Αλλάχ (sallAllâhu alaihi WA-Sallam) ειπε:

“Δεν υπάρχει ημέρα που ο Αλλάχ απελευθερώνει περισσότερα άτομα από την Φωτια εκτος από την ημέρα του Αραφάτ. Έρχεται κοντά και εκφράζει την υπερηφάνεια Του στους  τους αγγέλους λέει, «Τι  θέλουν αυτοί οι άνθρωποι (οι Hajis)’” [Sahih Muslim]

Aυτο  to  Hadith αναφέρει συγχώρεση για τους προσκυνητές. Εκτός από αυτό, η  νηστεία την ημέρα του  Αραφάτ είναι Sunnah και μια εξιλέωση των αμαρτιών για τους ανθρωπους.

Αναφέρεται στην Sahîhayn Μuslim,  ότι όταν ο αγγελιοφόρος του Αλλάχ (sallAllâhu alaihi WA-Sallam) ρωτήθηκε σχετικά με τη νηστεία της ημέρας του Αραφάτ, είπε:

“Εξιλεωνει τις αμαρτίες του προηγούμενου έτους και του επόμενου έτους.” [Sahih Muslim]

Αυτή η νηστεία είναι Mustahabb μόνο για την μη-προσκυνητές και δεν προορίζεται για την Hajis (οι προσκυνητές), διότι δεν ήταν η συνηθεια  του αγγελιοφόροu του Αλλάχ (sallAllâhu alaihi WA-Sallam) να νηστευει την ημέρα της Αραφάτ κατά τη διάρκεια του προσκυνήματος και σε μια αφήγηση που επίσης τους  απαγόρευσε να το κανουν.

Ο Ιμάμ σε-Tirmidhî (rahimahullah) (d 275H), δήλωσε:

“Οι άνθρωποι της γνώσης  to θεωρούν οτι  συνιστάται (Mustahabb) η νηστεια την ημέρα του  Αραφάτ, εκτός από αυτους στο Αραφάτ.” [Jâmi'ut-Tirmidhî (3 / 377)]

In the biblical account of our fall from God, we were assigned to earn our bread by the sweat of our face. The sweat comes from our own energies, which is all we have left after losing our roots in God’s own life. But we relentlessly try to earn our bread by the sweat of someone else’s face, even when it might be easier to use our own strength. (Dallas Williard, the Divine Conspiracy, 23)

Have you ever felt like you are being pushed against a wall that you feel like screaming when someone says to you that they know you very well? Do you know anyone so well, can you swear for someone and can you assume you know someone? They try to belittle you in ways to bend you into their perception of you and you may bend to the accusations. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

There are times when people assume that you are someone you are not probably because they are like the same which they have accused you of or have judged you on your past misdeed. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Don’t be moved by others perception of you. What’s important is what you believe; who you genuinely are, your ideals and principles and most importantly your truths about you. Not what others perceive you to be. Not their assumptions or preconceived notions of you probably judged on your appearance and your past. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

There are others who wish to see you fail in life and falter simply because they can’t believe that you are who you say you are. They like to climb their ladder of success while they keep pushing you down. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

They are going to assume everything inconceivably bad about you and if you love and believe in yourself, you will never be moved by it. There are those wanting to find some bad things to whisper against you, that they will make up a story about you, so convincing that it becomes believable rumors and gossip. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

There are those who will look for every corner to lay obstacles in your path to see you fail and beware some are done by your close friend as they may know you very well. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

They’ll even set you up with friends to see that you are stained, and when all fail they may create strife between you and the ones who are closest to you. Be aware of those. Reminding you again, they maybe your close friends and family. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

There are those who will smile with you and will stab you in the back as soon as you have turned you face/back with idle whispers to another. The two-faced ones. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

There are those who hate to see you climb that ladder of success, those who would see you down and can help but won’t because you will become a better person and will be a challenge to them.

There are those who hate that you are well educated and has become a force to reckon with as you are no longer spoon fed with their garbage and has become well informed and no longer depend on them to ‘nurture your mind’ like babies. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

Importantly, watch your friends who really befriend you to maliciously want to know about you, so they can talk of your confidential whispers to them. You usually know your enemies but they are sometimes in the midst and closest to your heart; the ones whom you trust with your innermost thoughts and secrets, entitled friends, but are really ‘fiends’ in disguise. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

Probably something they tried for years at and never was successful at and you did it with one whiff of a breath and has become envy and jealous of you. They may overlook the fact that what they had tried was not for them but was meant for you but some tend to walk around all their lives believing that life is unfair to them, when things they wanted were not meant for them and envy you all their lives, carry around bitterness and animosity towards you all because of jealousy and envy. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Instead of finding our purpose and enjoy and fulfill it. We tend to envy others and what they have; their jobs, status, finances and even their children/family to try to be like them or be better than them; poisoning selfish greed. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Sometimes people are jealous of you that they would cause you to lose your job, and family with false accusations leading to strife in family and jobs. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

I am always happy for others and their achievements in life as long as it’s done honestly. Your accomplishments are yours, your gifts are yours, they are distinct gifts from your design. I don’t envy others, I may see something and wish for it, but I don’t envy. There are times when you must let go off those wishes which are sometimes borne out of envy, jealousy, selfishness and greed because you want to be better than someone. However, everyone can achieve success in life.

Just don’t assume that your next door neighbor’s success will be same as yours. Try and find your purpose and distinct niche. Not saying you can’t achieve success like someone else, just don’t dwell on becoming exactly like someone because you may get what you wish for and don’t know what to do with it nor able to handle it because it was not meant for you like the one you envied as all it really was simply greed.

Don’t get discouraged by someone’s perception and opinion of you. Everyone will not love you but some will and when others find lies and misconceptions about you to make you feel small, the ones created in their minds. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Who cares of others opinion of you? Don’t stress nor lose a wink of a sleep on it, that’s their perception and that’s their business, not yours. Know who you are and believe who you are. Live who you are and love who you are. Only try to change the negative things you could change about yourself. Stop convincing others of who you are.

Stop living up to others expectations of you. Aren’t you tired of living up to others expectation, impression, perception and opinions of you? That’s their opinion. That’s their business, who cares?

You can’t please everyone and don’t go changing to fit someone’s personality, you are who you are and uniquely so.

Stop pretending to be who you are not, to appease their minds and please them.

Stop trying to keep up with the ‘Joneses’ on the outside while you are ‘bankrupt’ on the inside. Simply be the very utmost best you can be.

Stop hiding your face and hiding your face behind somebody. Show your entire face, be bold. Walk in/with your own shadow, not anyone’s.

Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

I love who I am. Every pore, way down to my core.

Written by Donique C. Perez Copyrighted 2009/11/24 All rights reserved

Reflections on the Qur’an: Refinement of the Soul

By Shabbir Ali Khan

In Surat Ash-Shams, Allah swears by the nafs [here translated "soul" but better understood as "self"] saying [By the soul [nafs] and He Who proportioned it, and inspired it its wickedness and its righteousness; he has succeeded who purifies it, and he has failed who instills it (with corruption)]. (Ash-Shams: 7-9).

The above Qur’anic verses signify the following:

Allah swears by the nafs, and this is an indication of the serious role that the nafs plays in the life of man. According to the verses, Allah has created the nafs and inspired it with what is right and what is wrong. This means that every nafs could know what is right and what is wrong. Every nafs could drive and lead man to the truth if it is good and purified.
The nafs is of three kinds:

Ammarah or evil-inciting, which is prone to evil, and, if not checked and controlled, will lead to perdition. This kind of nafs in stated in Surat Yusuf: [Yet, I do not absolve myself (of blame): it (human) soul [nafs] certainly incites evil, unless my Lord do bestow His mercy: but surely my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful] (Yusuf: 53).

Lawwamah or self-reproaching, which is conscious of evil and resists it, asks for Allah’s grace and pardon after repentance, and tries to amend. It hopes to reach salvation. This kind of nafs is stated in Surat Al-Qiyamah, where Allah says: [I do swear by the Resurrection Day, and I do swear by the self-reproaching soul [nafs]] (Al-Qiyamah: 1-2).

Mutma’inah or reassured. This is the highest kind o fnafs, which achieves full rest and satisfaction. This is referred to in Surat Al-Fajr: [O reassured soul [nafs], return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing (to Him), and enter among My servants and enter My paradise] (Al-Fajr: 27-30).

[He has succeeded who purifies it] This verse guides the Muslims to the way of success both in this world and the world to come. Success depends on purification of the nafs. The important question, then, is how can a Muslim purify and refine his or her nafs in order to succeed?

Tazkiyat an-nafs (purification of the nafs) is the basis for development and improvement of the personality. It is a long, proactive, and uphill task. It is not an easy esoteric rite or overnight formula. Misunderstanding of tazkiyah manifests when people look for quick methods of becoming better. Some may visit graves of the righteous; some may repeat certain supplications a given number of times. Yet others subject themselves to physical suffering in the hope that this will lead to spiritual purity. All of these are forms of escapism from facing the real challenges of tazkiyah.

[And he has failed who instills it (with corruption).] The last point to be reflected on is the causes of failure both in this world and in the Hereafter. The corruption of one’s self (nafs) is the result of following the ways of Satan, violating the rules of Shari`ah, and following vain desires.

Tazkiyah Is by Allah

[Allah purifies whom He wants] (An-Nisaa’: 49). All human effort towards tazkiyah should always be accompanied by supplication for Allah’s support, without which human effort will bear no fruit. On the other hand, it is wrong for a human to make no effort and passively expect Allah’s help. Humans must play their role before expecting Allah’s help.

Human Efforts Toward Tazkiyah

The human can do a lot to refine the nafs. The Qur’an talks about humans who purified themselves and about human efforts toward refinement (Fatir:18). Humans have been described by the Qur’an as clean (Maryam:19). Some human self-refinement (tazkiyah) involves maintaining correct and firm `aqeedah (belief), observing the acts of worship, avoiding the forbidden, reflecting on the creation, developing a good character and good behavior, and avoiding bad behavior.

RELATED ARTICLE: Conversation with my soul

We have spoken previously about anger. Here is  a list of remedies for anger!

1. Seeking Refuge with Allah from Satan

Allah says: “And if (at any time) an incitement to discord is made to thee by Satan, seek refuge in Allah. He is the One Who hears and knows all things.” [Sûrah Fussilat: 36]

Sulayman b. Sard relates that two men were arguing in the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him) until one of them became livid in the face and the veins in his neck stood out. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “I know some words that if he were to say them, his anger would leave him. If he would say: ‘I seek refuge with Allah from Satan’ then he would calm down.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (3108)]

Ibn al-Qayyim observes: “Anger sets itself upon the mind like a wolf sets itself upon a sheep. Satan attacks the mind more than anything else at times of anger and lust.”

2. Changing One’s Circumstances

When a person is angry, a change in circumstances can help him to get a grip on himself. It may be enough for him just to sit down.

Abû Dharr al-Ghifârî relates that the prophet (peace be upon him) said: “If one of you happens to be standing when he becomes angry, then he should take a seat. If this helps his anger to subside, then good and well. Otherwise, he should go and lie down.” [Sunan Abî Dâwûd (4782) and Sahîh Ibn Hibbân(5688)]

3. Avoiding Arguments and Keeping Silent

Sheikh `Abd al-Rahmân al-Si`dî said: “It is good to keep in mind that when other people abuse you – especially when it is just verbal abuse – they are only harming themselves by it. They do not cause you any harm unless you give them your time and attention. When you do so, you are harmed by their abusing you just as much as they harm themselves by doings so. If you pay them no heed, they can cause you not injury.”

It is just like an Arabian poet of old once said:

The fool addresses me with every ugliness
Yet I hate to answer his ire

He grows in foolery, and I in graciousness
Just like incense is wakened by fire.

Ibn `Abbâs relates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Teach the people and give them glad tidings. Do not make things difficult. And if you get angry, remain silent.” [Musnad Ahmad (3/249) Musnad al-Tayâlisî (2608) and al-Adab al-Mufrad (245)]

Ibn Rajab observes that silence: “is a powerful remedy against anger. This is because an angry person says things in his rage that he greatly regrets later on when his anger subsides. Some of the insults and statement made in anger can have harmful consequences. If the person keeps silent, he avoids all of that harm.”

4. Performing Wudû’

`Atiyyah al-Sa`dî relates that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Anger is from Satan, and Satan was created from fire. Only water will extinguish fire, so if one of you gets angry, he should perform wudû’.” [Musnad Ahmad (4/226) and Sunan Abî Dâwûd (4784)]

Abû Sa`îd al-Khudrî relates that the prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Anger is a burning ember in the heart of a son of Adam. Do you not see the red glow of his eyes and the swelling of the veins in his neck? Therefore, whoever senses something of this coming on should go and perform wudû’.” [Musnad Ahmad(3/61), Sunan al-Tirmidhî (2191) and Mustadrak al-Hâkim (4/551). Al-Tirmidhî declares it to be a good and authentic hadîth]

5. Invoking the Remembrance of Allah

Allah says: “Those who believe and find their hearts’ contentment in the remembrance of Allah – Only through the remembrance of Allah can the heart find peace. ” [Sûrah al-Ra`d: 28]

A person whose heart is content and in a state of balance because of Allah’s remembrance is as far from anger as a human heart can be.

Allah says: “And remember Allah if you forget.” [Sûrah al-Kahf: 24]

`Ikrimah said about this verse: “To forget, here, means: to get angry.” [Tafsîr al-Tabarî (15/226)]

6. Considering the Consequences of One’s Anger

A person who gets angry all the time injures his health because of it. A bad tempered person is more prone to diabetes, hypertension, and numerous other stress related illnesses.

When a person is angry, he is prone to say and do things that he will regret later on when his anger subsides. Because of this , `Alî b. Abî Tâlib said: “The pleasure of giving pardon is followed by a praiseworthy outcome. The pleasure or taking revenge is followed by the bitterness of regret.”

Ibn Rajab writes: “Anger is a distemper of the blood of a person on account either fearing some wrong or out of a desire for revenge against some wrong that was done to him. It provokes many evil acts, like murder, assault, and other forms of oppression and transgression against people. Likewise, it provokes sinful speech, like slander and defamation. Sometimes a person can be brought to an utterance of unbelief, as had was the case with Jibillah b. al-Ayham.

Ibn al-Qayyim writes: “Anger is a disease. It is an illness. It is a sickness of the heart, no less that fever, melancholy, and epilepsy are sicknesses of the body. A person in the throes of anger is like a person in the throes of pneumonia, a fever or an epileptic fit.”

Ibn Hibbân writes [Rawdah al-`Uqalâ (140)]: “If there was nothing blameworthy in anger aside from the fact that all thinkers throughout the ages have agreed that an angry person is devoid of judgment, then that would be enough for him to do everything in his power to avoid getting angry.”

An angry person is incapable of thinking clearly and formulating a sound opinion. This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “No one should judge between two people when he is angry.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (6739) and Sahîh Muslim (1717)]

Based on this hadîth, many Islamic scholars have ruled that if a judge is angry when he gives a verdict, then that verdict is invalid. Ibn al-Qayyim says: “This is because anger confuses the person’s heart and mind and makes him incapable of complete understanding.”

7. Accepting Sincere Advice

When we see someone who is angry, we should advise him and remind him about the virtue of clemency and of controlling our rage. The person being advised needs to heed that advice.

Ibn `Abbâs relates that once, during `Umar’s reign as Caliph, al-Hurr b. Qays sought `Umar’s permission to admit `Uyaynah into his presence. `Umar gave him permission and `Uyaynah approached, saying: “O Son of al-Khattâb. You do not give us all that much and you do not judge between us fairly.”

At this, `Umar became extremely angry and showed an intention to strike him, so al-Hurr b. Qays said: “O Commander of the Faithful! Allah said to His Prophet (peace be upon him): ‘Take recourse to pardon, enjoin what is good, and turn away from those who are ignorant.’ – Indeed, he is one of those who are ignorant.”

`Umar then did no more to the man than to recite the same verse to him. In this way,, he held himself in check with the words of Allah. [Sahîh al-Bukhârî(4366)]

Ibn al-Qayyim writes [Ighâthah al-Lahfân (47)]:

The enraged person is like some one in pain. This is why he say the things that he says and do the things that he does. He is trying to relieve himself of the heat of his anger. This is also why he might strike his own face, scream and shout, tear his clothes, or throw down whatever is in his hands. It is all to rid his flesh of the pain provoked by his anger. For the same reason, he might invoke Allah’s wrath upon himself or upon his loved ones, imploring with his words though not really wanting what he is asking for. He might invoke pronouncements that he does not really want to have carried out.

Kings sometimes issue commands that their courtiers know are not intended. It is just their king venting his anger. This is why they do not hasten to carry out those orders, and when the king’s anger subsides, he praises them for their discretion.

In the same way a man in the throes of anger might get up to beat his child or his friend. If someone else gets in the way and prevents him form doing so, the man will be grateful for that after his anger subsides, just like the man who is drunk or beset by fever is later grateful to the one who prevents his injudicious actions.

8. Learning from Past Experience

If we would only remember the last time we did something in anger that we sorely regretted, it would help us to restrain our baser selves in the future. It is far easier to stop ourselves from acting out of anger than it is to fix the mess we make when we let loose our rage.

Ibn Hibbân writes [Rawdah al-`Uqalâ (158)]: “Shortness of temper is a characteristic of imbeciles just as self-restraint is a sign of intelligence. Anger is the seed of regret. A person’s ability to restrain himself before letting loose his anger is greater than his ability to set things right again in its wake.”

RELATED ARTICLE: Tips to control anger

Source: Islamtoday

Hmm. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: People google the strangest things. The title for this post is actually one of the search terms which led people to my blog. I’m more perturbed again by those who enter “photos of small children” or “rob kearney naked for charity” but this particular term, hording its many exclamation marks, caught my eye. It made me think. It has been over a year now since I began this blog and just yesterday I passed the 4,000 view mark. Is THAT a shame on mankind – sorry, THE mankind? Have you nothing better to read? There are libraries out there chock-full of great works of literature, bookshops brimming with Booker Prize winners and Nobel Laureates, dammit, even the back of cereal boxes have quite well-worded sentences.

But you come here. And for that I am most grateful.

Anyway, I thought of what I could do to mark the passing of the 4,000 mark, and I decided that, rather than being conscientious and continuing my writings about Africa (WHICH WILL BE COMPLETED, HONEST!), I would cop out and do a list-based entry. One of the first posts I ever wrote was about beautiful moments, and it was a list of 15 or 20 things that make me smile. Naturally, a list of things that make me froth at the mouth and bulge at the temple with rage would be many times longer. So, inspired by the exclamatory shaming of mankind by whoever-you-are (I think we shall call you Leonard, just for fun), I will just list the 100 things for which I think mankind has most to answer (I initially said 50 before realising exactly how many stupid / irritating / shit things mankind has come up with). Thanks Leonard. Of the 4,000 people who’ve visited this blog, you are definitely my favourite. Or at least, you’re the one with the most punctuation.

MANKIND’S SHAMEFUL 100 (In no particular order, although Simon Cowell may well be number 1 in any ACTUAL order).

1. Simon Cowell
2. Marmite
3. Weightlifting
4. The Sun (newspaper, not celestial body)
5. Penis Enlargement Spam
6. People who do your accent back to you because they think you sound funny.
7. Juicy Couture
8. Cigarettes
9. Cigarette burns
10. Sarah Palin / George W. Bush (Same person, different sex)
11. Rap Music (I think it’s missing an E)
12. Legwarmers
13. Actually, the 80s in general
14. The Twilight Series (They all look like heroin addicts. Hot heroin addicts.)
15. LOL-ing
16. Designer stubble
17. Sweet Popcorn
18. Facebook Chat
19. Scientology
20. Tom Cruise (Hmm, wonder why HE came into my head…)
21. Ryanair
22. Tuna
23. Bad Drivers (Especially those who don’t indicate before turning or who beep as a substitute for shouting at you!)
24. Deadlines
25. The Cult Of Celebrity
26. Unsolicited Garnishes (Sprigs of cress or, the worst, coleslaw)
27. Eddie Murphy Films
28. Cocktails With Names Designed To Make Hen Parties Scream With Laughter (e.g.: Screaming Orgasm)
29. American Football
30. 2 Girls 1 Cup
31. Bryan Adams
32. Saying The Word “Like”, All The Time, Like. (And I was like “No way!”, and she was, like, SO angry.)
33. Urinals Above Standard Height
34. Idolising Wordsworth’s Poetry (Don’t like his stuff, hence thinking his name is rather misleading)
35. Ignoring Poetry (Except Wordsworth’s…)
36. Big Brother
37. Girls Who Wear Ugg Boots With Short Skirts And Call It Fashion
38. The Phrase “I’m Not Racist, But…”
39. FIFA
40. Hiding The Electric Car Where No One Can Find It
41. Postal Strikes
42. Air Strikes
43. GPS
44. People Who Comment On Youtube With Hateful Bile Or Too Many Exclamation Marks (You listening, Leonard?)
45. Surreptitious Mushrooms In Dishes Where No Mushrooms Are SPECIFICALLY Highlighted On The Menu
46. World Of Warcraft
47. The Hash (#) Symbol On Phones (I don’t know anyone who has # in their phone number)
48. Ant And Dec
49. ATMs Which Don’t Provide Tenners
50. The “Serving Suggestion” Notice On The Front Of Food Boxes / TV Ads For Food
51. Charity Muggers
52. TV Aerials / Dishes
53. 1st Generation iPods Which Died After About 3 Months
54. Incongruous Skyscrapers
55. Feng Shui (As practiced by middle-class Western mothers who saw something about it in a magazine once)
56. The Birdie Song
57. Aldi / Lidl
58. Day-Glo
59. Sandra Bullock’s Career
60. Drunk Karaoke
61. The Ringtone Industry
62. Lord Of The Rings Fans
63. Barbie
64. Killing The Dodo (They look like they’d have been SUCH fun birds to have around)
65. Milk Of Magnesia
66. Lycra
67. Pirates (The modern ones with guns and outboard motors, not the cool 18th century ones with cutlasses)
68. Starbucks
69. Duchamp’s Fountain (It’s a fucking urinal you found, it’s not art and your replicas simply capitalised on notoriety for financial gain)
70. Self-Help Books With The Number Of Steps In The Journey To Perfection In The Title
71. Clothes For Pets
72. Blow-Up Dolls
73. Christian Rock (That’s the music, not a person)
74. Sky / Fox News
75. Paisley (The modern use of the pattern, not the place nor the Reverand Doctor)
76. Line-dancing
77. Bestiality Porn
78. Tetra-pak Easy Pour Spouts (LIES!)
79. Bastardised Irish Names (Caitlin, Neve, Owen, Shawn, Ashleen, Kaden, ERIN!…)
80. Alcopops
81. Fish Knives
82. Dan Brown
83. Psychics / Mediums
84. Interior Design Programmes
85. Disneyland / World / Location
86. Novelty Doorbells
87. The Word “Bodacious”
88. Genital Piercings
89. People’s Names Tattooed In Eastern Alphabets They Don’t Understand
90. Most Customer Service Helplines (*cough…NTL…cough. Actually, fuck the coughing. NT-COCKING-L!)
91. Estuary English
92. Katie Price’s Tits / Existence
93. Bingo
94. Late Night Television Phone-In Quizzes
95. Formula 1 Motorsport
96. Deck Chair Rental
97. Pet Rocks
98. Muzak
99. Caravan Parks
100. Hitler

Thought I’d end on a light-hearted note. HAPPY MY 4,000th VIEW EVERYONE!

The altruistic do-gooder who is incapable of seeing his own plight is the most foolish among us. His unwillingness to focus on that which is staring him in the face while looking toward nebulous problems in the periphery are symptoms of psychosis and not dignified compassion.

Self-awareness can reveal undesired realities and as such it is easier to advocate for someone else than it is to correct the faults within.

This is as true for societies as it is for individuals.

In case you have not heard, there is a pandemic occurring. People are being hospitalized and even dying simply because it is flu season and they are not taking the proper precautions.

But what does flu season have to do with your shopping? More than you may like to think.

One day you suddenly fall ill; your feverish, you cannot keep any food down and your whole body hurts. No one in your house is sick, nor is anyone at work, so how did you get sick?

“Maybe it was someone at school,” you may think. “The girl two seats down from me did cough, yawn and put her head down.”

What about the other day when you went shopping (and consequently wandered through everyone else’s germs). When you picked up all those DVDs, read the backs then put them all back because you could not make up your mind.

Little did you know, but before you picked up those DVDs, another customer had just been there — coughing. Everyone gets sick and we all know our lives do not always allow us to stay home; but when this customer coughed, they did so carelessly NOT covering their mouth.

According to It’s A SNAP.org’s Clean Hand Statistics:

• There are many types of germs (viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi) that cause many types of illnesses – including the common cold or flu, food borne illness, Lyme disease, hantavirus, or plague. These germs can spread easily from one person to another – and have wide-reaching effects.
• One of the most common ways people catch colds is by rubbing their noses or eyes after touching someone or something that’s contaminated with the cold virus (rhinovirus).
• Rotavirus – a germ that causes gastrointestinal illness - can be transferred from a dry, smooth surface to a clean hand for as long as 20 minutes after the surface has been contaminated.
• The 15 leading causes of death in the US for 2006 include influenza and pneumonia.

Your germs are discussing, in the end even you do not want them. Why carelessly disperse them around town then? Where did your manors go? If your fever is so high that you cannot remember to cover your mouth when you cough (a skill which you were thought when you were two), then maybe you need to find your way to a hospital bed.

Infection Control Today reported in their article in Dec. 2003 that, “Most people (73 %) know that a common cold can spread by coughing. Far fewer people recognize that more serious illnesses — such as the flu (57 %) and bronchitis (27 %) — can also spread through coughing. In reality, the flu and bronchitis are spread more often through coughing than sneezing. However, most people (71%) consider their average cough to be simply a mild problem or annoyance, and seek treatment either rarely or not at all. By not taking their cough seriously, these people are likely spreading their infection to others.”

So now when you go out all shopping and you have that terrible or minor cough or even flu-ish symptoms, hopefully you will keep in mind mankind and your fellow shoppers and will cover your mouth when you cough.

No one likes being sick and people especially do not like getting sick. So save someone else your pain and if you go out while under the weather, cover your mouth when you cough.

“I really do not want to know. In all honesty I am not interested.” It might sound harsh and a little uncaring but I believe that it is the kindest thing to say.

I suggest that nobody  should  be interested.

Why do they do it?

Some people feel they want to share their personal or other’s  secrets. Sometimes innocent but very often sinful. It does not matter to them if you plead ” I do not want to know”.

Persisting in their revelations,stubbornly, show disrespect towards Allah swt, His Messenger saw, and the believers.

Some do it to boast, some looking for support, exposing themselves to all kinds of situations if it happens  their  revelations to  fall in the wrong ears.

It was reported that Ibn ‘Umar said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “The believer will be brought close to his Lord until He conceals him and makes him confess his sin. Allaah will say, ‘Do you remember such and such a sin?’ The man will say, ‘Yes, I admit it.’ The Lord will say, ‘I concealed it for you in the world and I forgive you for it today.’ Then He will close up his record of good deeds. As for the others or the Kuffaar, it will be called out before the witnesses, ‘These are the ones who disbelieved in their Lord. The curse of Allaah is upon the wrongdoers.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4408; Muslim, 2768).

This hadith clearly states that Allah swt  conceals and we should also conceal our secrets.

Abu Hurayrah said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “All of my ummah will be forgiven except those who sin openly. It is a part of sinning openly when a man does something at night, then the following morning when Allaah has concealed his sin, he says, ‘O So and so, I did such and such last night,’ when all night his Lord has concealed him and the next morning he uncovers what Allaah had concealed.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5721; Muslim, 2990).

So If Allah swt keeps our secrets why can we not keep them ourselves?

Similarly if we happen to know of anybody else’s secrets we must not disclose them to anybody.

Prophet Muhammad s.a.w (peace be upon him) said: “He, who relieves a hardship of this Dunia (world) for a believer, Allah will relieve (from him) a hardship of the Day of Resurrection; he who makes easy an indebted person, Allah will make it easy for him in the Dunia and the Hereafter; he who covers a Muslim (meaning his mistakes and shortcomings), Allah will cover him in the Dunia and the Hereafter …” [Sahih Muslim]

So for next time…

“I do not want to know…I am not interested. Please do not tell me  your secrets!”

Xenia

(Inspired by Ain’t Your Fairytale by Sonata Arctica)

Hear my young ones!

For centuries we have been hunted, killed and skinned by humans. Now our time has come! We shall seek justice!

We all know that man is much more superior than us… in almost every aspect. But can we just let them do this unforgivable act on and on? No! They have once feared us greatly and now the time has come to make them feel that apprehension again!

We and the humans once shared an ancient bond in the Garden of Eden. We coexisted peacefully. Mankind was once a benevolent race… But not anymore. They have broken the bond. They were the ones who started this war… thousands of lifetimes ago…

They would hunt us in the day. Slaughter us for our skin. Now its payback time!

My young ones! Listen to your elder!

Tonight, the moon is full and blue. Selene’s blessings are upon us. Nyx shall guide us in the dead of night. Strike fear into the heart of man! Let those intruders feel the wrath of Fenrisúlfr’s children!

Now follow the trail of blood. Make them pay the price for desecrating Artemis’ realm. Track them down until the dawn!

Now! The pack they’ve always feared is back! Hunt my young ones! Let the hunt begin!

The cab ride!

Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. When I arrived at 2:30a.m.,the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But, I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation.Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.So I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute,” answered a frail,elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.After a long pause, the door opened.

A small woman in her 80’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware. “Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.” “Oh, you’re such a good boy,” she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?” “It’s not the shortest way,” Ianswered quickly. “Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.” I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening. “I don’t have any family left,” she continued. “The doctor says I don’t have very long.” I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. “What route would you like me to take?” I asked. For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the  building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular  building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.” We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.”How much do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into her purse. “Nothing,” I said. “You have to make a living,” she answered. “There are other passengers,” I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,” she said. “Thank you.” I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.But great moments often catch us unaware–beautifully wrapped in what others may consider, a small one.

This image represents the lightning and the rainbow. These universe phenomena witness the Creator (Blessed and Exalted be He) greatness. Hereafter, I do remember a noble verse where Allah (Blessed and Exalted be He) is saying: ‘’The lightning almost snatches their beholdings (Literally: eyesights); whenever it illuminates for them they walk in it, and when it darkens over them, they keep stationed; and if Allah had so decided, He would indeed have gone away with (i.e., taken away) their hearing and their beholdings. (Literally: eyesights) Surely Allah is Ever Determiner over everything.’’ (Al-Baqarah: 20).

Let’s consider the word (snatches)…why did not He say ‘‘The lightning almost blinds their beholdings’’?. To what refers the verb to snatch?

In Arabic language, this word (snatches) (the equivalent of ‘’yakhtafo’’ in arabic) is used to express the speed of something ‘a snatch speed’’. It is one of the strongest words to express the great and non-visible speed. Indeed, scientists have discovered that the lightning ray speed is estimated to be more than 150.000 km/second !!

Just imagine that this speed means that if this ray had turned around the earth sphere, it would have done it in a period of quarter of a second only! Hence, Allah (Blessed and Exalted be He) said: (snatches their beholdings) …we can say nothing but Glorified be Allah! So, this wonderful language accuracy witnesses that this Qur’an is revealed from The Almighty, The Ever-Wise and is not human word as atheists pretend!

——————–

By: Abduldaem Al-Kaheel

www.kaheel7.com/eng

Source:

www.photography.nationalgeographic.com

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Thursday evening DhulQada 24, 1430 (November 12, 2009)

Sheykh Abdul Kerim Efendi is saying that mankind became robotic slaves to their machines. They forgot why they are living, that they are supposed to be servants to the Creator. The government promotes slavery through education that teaches wrong things: darwinism and running after enjoyment. We are not free, but prisoners between two breaths.

Download (35:37 mins) | Listen to the sohbet:

Ninety percent of the things we tend to WORRY about we have no control, over so why worry about them?

People worry for only two reason.

Either they stand to lose something they want to keep, or they stand not to gain something they want.

If keeping something you have would costs you your peace of mind, or if something you stand to gain takes you to the brink of distress, then, it makes sense to ask yourself whether what you are worried over is worth the price.

The cold truth, worry is a common problem and it is a real killer. It can sap your creative energies and makes you less effective. All these produces no positive results.Thus, conquer the  habit of worrying and you can reduce your chances of distress in the process.

Happy is the man who has broken the chains which hurts the mind, and has given up worrying once and for all.

Don’t worry about it – do it !!!

Jesus is this sort of map.

A map shows some details of the destination in mind. If you look at a country or state map it might give certain distances between each destination or place. If you look closer it might give you highways or interstates. Some maps might even give you restaurants or places of entertainment depending on the genre and style of the map. The map can only give you so much though, a map doesn’t show you the people, cars or houses, or the tv’s in the house, or maybe even what’s on the television. It doesn’t make the map any less of a map, because it is the map being the map; giving you details of the destination or goal.

Jesus, in more ways than one, points us back to God. In several places he uses the phrase “Kingdom of God”, not kingdom of Jesus. In another place he says something like this, “I am here to do the will of Him who sent me” and so on. Jesus came here to show us God in skin. Show us how to be God in our skin. How to embrace the divine within. To introduce a new way to be human. To show us how to connect with God. To be the ultimate example of God on earth for all of mankind.

Jesus essentially draws us into the circle with God. Like the Rublev’s Trinity fresco we can all come and commune with the Divine Three.

The map shows us how to get to the destination. If we spend all our time worshipping the map, and spending all of our time dissecting the map, then we might never get to the destination. Especially when the “map” is telling us to look towards the destination. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus is important. He is divine. But, in his own words, he is not the point. He leads us to the point.

Too many times people remove the phrase “I am the way, the truth, and the life” out of its context and so it seems as if Jesus was mandating some kind of magical process whereby only some can walk through this door to connect with God or receive salvation. Some stand in front of abortion clinics proclaiming this, others stand in pulpits and assert the same thing. Yet, if you begin looking at this phrase from the point of Jesus in light of the context (being a conversation between himself and Thomas) than a different message might appear that is different to the one we have been taught for so long. Again, I need to reiterate that Jesus is important and we can learn oodles of information and how to live, be and breath. He is God in skin, but his being here doesn’t end there. He was here to show us that we too could be like him in every way. Every way.

John 4:12: I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father

The Jews believed/believe everything is connected. We are all connected. Now, Jesus would have known this, He might have even filtered his words through this reality. And if this is true, then Jesus is essentially inviting everyone to also join in on the connection with God. That people could, if they wanted to, join in on the movement of love and grace and peace and so many other things that God is about and we can go to Jesus to find out what some of those things are, the journey should take us onward and closer to God…but if we want to get to the destination we should grab some friends and enjoy the journey on our way to God. If we see God as the destination as a now and not yet, then we can experience him, be like him (not just Jesus) and also meet him in his own fullness one day when…but till then, we can endorse who He is and what he stands for while we live and breath here on earth in each moment…

As thoughts of Eidul Adha and Qurbani are in mind I was considering the difficulties some have in giving…

Some find “giving”  generally somehow difficult (by all means ” not everybody” and Alahmdulillah for that ) and especially difficult giving to charities,  even though  the majority are well known, deserving, hard working charities.

They somehow have this suspicious feeling that their money does not reach where it is intended to reach. Sometimes it makes you wonder “Why?”. Is it fear of parting with wealth or is it fear of being “duped”?

In respect of the fear of being duped by all means do your research and satisfy yourself that all is above board and your cash and gifts will reach those who need it the most.

Regarding the fear  of parting with your wealth lets read on:

Allah says in the Holy Qur’an the meaning of which is:

[And squander not (thy wealth) in wantonness. Lo! the squanderers were ever brothers of the devils, and the devil was ever an ingrate to his Lord … And let not thy hand be chained (like a niggard's) to thy neck nor open it with a complete opening, lest thou become blameworthy and destitute. Lo! thy Lord enlargeth the provision for whom He will, and straiteneth (it for whom He will). Lo, He was ever Knower, Seer of His slaves.] (Al-Israa’ 17:26-27, 29-30)

And indeed we have to be careful with our money as we have to be careful with all other resources. As Muslims we aim for a balanced way of life. Not too extravagant neither too stingy.

Lets discuss for now, the aspect of giving money.

So what happens if some people find it difficult to part with their money?

Stinginess is the opposite of being generous.

Allah says in the Holy Qur’an the meaning of which is:

“It is you who are asked to spend for the cause of Allah, but some of you behave in a niggardly way. Whoever behaves miserly does so against his own soul. Allah is Self-sufficient and you are poor (47:38).”

“The stingy ones who try to make others stingy or those who hide the favors that Allah has bestowed on them. We have prepared a humiliating torment for the disbelievers (4:37).”

“Those who are avaricious of the favors that Allah has given them should not think that this is good for them. Avarice is evil and whatever they are avaricious about will be tied to their necks on the Day of Judgment (3:180).”

To cure this flow in the human nature we have to ask: “What makes one stingy?”

Fear of poverty? We have been warned  that sataan will threaten us with poverty.

Allah (swt) says  us in The Holy Qur’an:

As the pilgrimage of hajj has now started and with Eid ul Adha fast approaching I have been looking into the matter of the Qurbani issue.

For the past few years we have been sending the money through one of the well known charities. Last year I was told that though it is a noble way to do Qurbani, if Qurbani is allowed in the country that we live in, is preferable to do it here.

Slaughtering the animal is more preferable than donating the money allocated for it, for that is part of Islam’s rituals and a mode of seeking Allah’s Pleasure, as Allah said, (…So pray unto they Lord, and sacrifice…) (Al-Kawthar 108: 2)

Muslims slaughter animals during `eidul-dha in emulation of Prophet Abraham who was about to slaughter his son, Isma`eel (Ishmael), to show obedience to Almighty Allah, when Ishmael was redeemed by a ram brought to Abraham by Angel Gabriel. The Angel then conveyed to him Allah’s Command to slaughter the ram instead.

This act henceforth became a Prophetic Sunnah followed by Muslims. So to slaughter the animal in the `eid is better than donating the money, for if all Muslims were to do that, this virtuous tradition will become obsolete.

However, a donation can be made posthumously on behalf of a person who dies before fulfilling a religious duty of offering a sacrificial animal, if it will be useless to present a sacrificial animal due to, say, for instance, people are not in need of meat.

In short, it is preferable to slaughter animal and offer monetary donation if possible.

Insha Allah.

Related Article: What is Qurbani?

Insha Allah.

Praise be to Allaah.

If the day of Eid coincides with Friday, then whoever prays Eid with the imaam does not have to attend Jumu’ah (it is not obligatory on him); in his case it becomes Sunnah. If he does not pray Jumu’ah, he has to pray Zuhr. This is in the case of people other than the imaam. As for the imaam, he has to be present for Jumu’ah and lead those Muslims who attend the prayer. The Jumu’ah prayer should not be forsaken completely on this day.

Source: Islam qa

I have a close friend, who recounted her ugly experience with her two bully teachers very recently. To begin with, it was very unfortunate that she had encountered these bully teachers in her early childhood.

Her first experience with an ugly teacher was while doing her third year in Primary education. The bully teacher was an old man. He was already retired but was retained to serve as a teacher. And was in his 60s then.

This spectacled, old man liked to find fault with a particular boy and punished him with a 5ft wooden ruler for not passing up his classwork every day. When the truth was, like the rest of the class, he had submitted his homework on time every day.

In the class, while asking the students to do their work, this old man would mark our homework. All of a sudden, he would turn angry, shouted out “whose book is this?” Then, just chuck the homework back to this boy. Having corrected all the other homework, he would get up, called out one by one to come forward and collect their homework. Then, he would look for those who did not submit their homework. So, everyday this small boy was punished in front of the class for not submitting his homework.

This happened the entire year. Some of his classmates tried to defend him by telling the teacher that he did in fact passed up his homework. But the teacher silenced them by raising his long, wooden ruler as if he was ready to punish them as well.

Her other ugly experience was with her language teacher. Who came to school in his brand new “Norton” motorcycle. This young language teacher loves to play his accordion in any class or school gathering. The encounters happened in her fifth and sixth year of Primary education. Spanking is often featured here. But, the worst was his terrible “pinching” – using his second and third finger, he would grip onto the student’s naval area, then pull the student towards him and then slowly twisting his hand – as if he was turning a knob. Imagine, this cruel and insensitive act often made the students cry in pain and became fearful of him.

These incidents had occurred long ago. The point I am driving at, sadistic and bully teachers had existed for a very long time. Perhaps, long before your time. These two were very, very ugly, terrible, sadistic, horrible, bully teachers that we may not see as often these days.

And if you think they have left a very negative impact to Suzianna, I would say “Yes.” At that tender age then, in her words, she said; “I was emotionally depressed and angry throughout my childhood and adolescent years – until I finally learnt to live and let go. Otherwise, I would have gone down spiral because of such monsters.”

Are you methodical? You follow a pattern and way to do things from as long as you knew yourself. There is no other way, no other method, the modern way doesn’t move you and you rather go with the old fashioned way and method you practiced all life long. Are you a planned, pre-programmed person and very disciplined?

Have you ever tried doing something for someone, probably cooked, cleaned, even drove their vehicle, the simple little things and favors you do and they will find faults with everything and way you did something and may say to you that this is not how it’s done or this is not the way they do it? – Well that’s the way you do it – and if you want me to help you, I am going to do it the best way I know how to do it and will get the same end results. We simply do things differently but it has the same end results.

Methodical people have no room for mistakes nor tolerance, nor leniency for doing things different or going off sync and would get mad when others messed up their method; their speed, their plan. They never keep anyone waiting, they prefer to be there before you get there if they have a one o’clock appointment with you, be assured they’d be there before you get there and that’s OK because it’s a good discipline. Sometimes they make everyone around themselves unhappy because they do not bend to anyone. They are simply disciplined people.

However in our quest for ‘perfection’, we may realize that we stress ourselves in that process because we fret ourselves when it’s not perfected, we left no room for the unexpected and that’s being really hard on ourselves.

Don’t be too rigid with your expectations of people because you expect others to do things like you and that’s very unrealistic and unfair. We make ourselves and others miserable when we do so, in fact I have begun lowering my expectation of others because when I do so that way I am never disappointed.

You see, sometimes we need to relax and go with the flow and just watch things unfold. Simply sitting back sometimes and watch and observe. There are times you have to take the ‘bull by the horn’ especially when things are going off sync but there are times you must learn to relax and watch things flow.

I’ve been forever telling my son whenever he does something ‘wrong’, there is a right way and a wrong way of doing things – and what I haven’t realized is, there is probably another way, and that way was, his way.;-) The truth is whatever he did he did in the the best way he understood to do it, and ends up with the same result, but his way.

I grew up with the ‘right and wrong’ principles, it’s the only way I knew – but what if the right nor wrong way worked and just your peculiar way works all the time. Think about it. What worked for you. Some may argue, if it worked for you then it was the right way:-)

I grew up in a disciplined home, where my dad being a cop was strict on rules and principles therefore I carried that all through my life, even when I was tempted to bend it stayed with me. It was what I was taught and in the process of molding others like my son.

I forgot that everyone has different personality. While I did exactly what my parent asked me to do as a kid, kids nowadays will ask why, what is the purpose. The same questions I queried in my mind as a kid but afraid to voice to my parent. All we knew and obeyed as kids was do what I asked or said no ifs nor buts.

Truthfully, I may show him a way of doing something and with his adventurous little self/mind, he’ll do it the way he best can and prove to me he did it differently but complete. It’s not being defiant but being spontaneous with his thoughts and not always necessarily following methods but coming back out with same results.

Its the similar principle used when he encounters problems, you are not around them at every given moment of their young life and when emergency comes he has to use his logical commonsense thinking, with a little spontaneity.

Life is about adjusting to different flavors, personality and making everyone seem important because they are unique and different.

Most tend to bend others to their liking forgetting they are accepting you the way you are and not asking anything of you, while you want them to change, although some may have very toxic attitude that needs drastic changing or they will self-destruct.

However, I believe that life is going to offer you some choices which you might have to adjust to by simply going with the flow, somethings we just can do anything about, except watch things unfold.

Somethings that you may feel you are in control of but will go against you no matter how hard you try your utmost best to fight against it. We get too disappointed with outcomes of things because we believe we are in control of everything and aspect of our lives, when we are really control freaks.

It’s alright to follow instructions, procedures, methods and principles but there are times when we have to flow in the moment – be momentous and spontaneous – not be so rigid.

There is an uncertain thrill in spontaneity– because it’s not pre-programmed or planned, simply enjoying the moments as it’s sent to us unpackaged; no frills, no lace – do what you wish with it – basking in it and hoping it will work out for good and if it doesn’t, make good of a bad situation.

Life is full of disciplines, rules, procedures, instructions to follow – those golden rules – that sometimes fail us. Some people you can tell exactly what they will do every morning after they awake, the rules and disciplines adhered to, no room nor tolerance for mistakes.

Stop being so hard on your self and go with the flow sometimes. Enjoy the moment and relax, unwind and let things be – everything will work itself out – but only if you believe so. Fear is our greatest threat and setback to a relaxed mind, it send commotion and chaos to it at lightning speed – simply absorb this moment and relax – let thing flow.

I am going to be spontaneous for a little while and simply go with the flow – no restrictions, no rules simply enjoying this moment – forget about the next moment, it will come and when it comes enjoy it too. Be sure to enjoy the spontaneous good things of life than the bad.

I will never lead you wrong. Some may also argue; a fair argument too, if it’s spontaneous – it means going with the flow and in that process of going with the flow it may be bad. May I add, please use your good judgement at all times. Be wise in your spontaneity, not only because it feels good.

Why always be so serious about life. Enjoy the trip here while you can because no one gets out alive.

This was a spontaneous note written by me:-)

Written by Donique C Perez Copyrighted 2009/11/21 All rights reserved

By Seyda Asia

Assalamaulaikum dear members. Read the tragic story mentioned below carefully.

My name is Sarah
I am but three,
my eyes are swollen
I cannot see.
I must be stupid,
I must be bad,
what else could have made
my daddy so mad?
I wish I were better,
I wish I weren’t ugly,
then maybe my Mommy
would still want to hug me.
I can’t speak at all,
I can’t do a wrong
or else I’m locked up
all the day long.
When I awake I’m all alone
the house is dark
my folks aren’t home.
When my Mommy does come
I’ll try and be nice,
so maybe I’ll get just
one whipping tonight.
Don’t make a sound!
I just heard a car
my daddy is back
from Charlie’s Bar.
I hear him curse
my name he calls
I press myself
against the wall.
I try and hide
from his evil eyes
I’m so afraid now
I’m starting to cry.
He finds me weeping
he shouts ugly words,
he says its my fault
that he suffers at work.
He slaps me and hits me
and yells at me more,
I finally get free
and I run for the door. He’s already locked it
and I start to bawl,
he takes me and throws me
against the hard wall.
I fall to the floor
with my bones nearly broken,
and my daddy continues
with more bad words spoken.
‘I’m sorry!’ I scream
but its now much too late
his face has been twisted
into unimaginable hate.
The hurt and the pain
again and again
oh please God, have mercy!
oh please let it end!
And he finally stops
and heads for the door,
while I lay there motionless
sprawled on the floor.
My name is Sarah
and I am but three,
tonight my daddy
murdered me.
There are thousands of kids out there just like Sarah. And you can help.
It sickens me to my soul, and if you just read this and don’t pass it on I pray for your forgiveness, because you would have to be one heartless person to not be affected by this message.. And because you are affected, do something about it!! So all I am asking you to do is take some time to send this on and acknowledge that this stuff does happen, and that people like her dad do live in our society, because it might change a persons way of thinking and save somebody’s life. And pray for child abuse to wither out and die, but also pray for the safety of our youth.

*~*~* JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST CHILD ABUSE *~*~*

Barakallahu feekum.

Source: ISLAM – THE WAY OF LIFE

Shabbir Ali Khan

Concept of Repentance

Definition

Repentance (Tawbah ) means that one feels regret and filled with remorse for his or her sins, turns to Allah with the intention to obey Him. According to truth-seeking scholars, repentance signifies a sincere effort to no longer oppose the Divine Essence in one’s feelings, thoughts, intentions, and acts, and to comply sincerely with His commands and prohibitions.

Repentance does not mean being disgusted with what is bad or prohibited and thus no longer engaging in it; rather, it means remaining aloof from whatever Allah hates and prohibits, even if it seems agreeable to sense and reason.

Repentance is usually used with Nasuh, literally meaning pure, sincere, reforming, improving, and repairing. Tawbah Nasuh (genuine repentance) means a pure, sincere repentance that perfectly reforms and improves the one who feels it.

One who feels such a sincere, heartfelt, and true remorse for the sin committed seeks to abandon it, thereby setting a good example for others. The Qur’an points to this when it mentions true repentance: [O you who believe! Turn to God in true, sincere repentance.] (At-Tahrim 66: 8).

Categories of Repentance

There are three categories of repentance which are as follows:

1. The repentance of those who cannot discern Divine truths. Such people are uneasy about their disobedience to Allah and, conscious of the sinfulness clouding their hearts, turn toward Allah in repentance saying, for example: “I have fallen or committed a sin. Forgive me, or I ask for Allah’s forgiveness.”

2. Those half-awakened to Divine truths beyond veils of material existence, who feel an inward pang of sinfulness and remorse right after thinking or doing anything incompatible with the consciousness of always being in Allah’s presence, or after every instance of heedlessness enveloping their hearts, and who immediately take refuge in the mercy and favor of Allah.

Such people are described in the following Hadith: “One who sincerely repents of his sin is as if he had never committed it. When Allah loves one of His servants, his sins do not harm him. Then he recited the verse: ‘Assuredly, Allah loves the oft-repentant and those who always seek to purify themselves.’”

3. Those who live such a careful life that, their eyes sleep but their hearts do not, their hearts are awake. Such people immediately discard what-ever intervenes between Allah and their hearts and other innermost faculties, and regain the consciousness of their relation to the Light of Lights. They always manifest the meaning of: [How excellent a servant! Truly he was ever turning in contrition (to his Lord)] (Sad 38: 44).

Repentance means regaining one’s essential purity after every spiritual defilement, and engaging in frequent self-renewal.

Stages of Repentance

1. Feeling sincere remorse and regret.

2. Being frightened whenever one remembers past sins.

3. Trying to eradicate injustice and support justice and right.

4. Reviewing one’s responsibilities and performing obligations previously neglected.

5. Reforming oneself by removing spiritual defects caused by deviation and error

6. Regretting and lamenting the times when one did not mention or remember Allah, or thank Him and reflect on His works. Such people are always apprehensive and alert so that their thoughts and feelings are not tainted by things that intervene between themselves and Allah. (This last quality is particular to people distinguished by their nearness to Allah.)

If one does not feel remorse, regret, and disgust for errors committed, whether great or small; if one is not fearful or apprehensive of falling back into sin at any time; and if one does not take shelter in sincere servanthood to Allah in order to be freed from deviation and error into which one has fallen by moving away from God, any resulting repentance will be no more than a lie.

A Muslim should cry:

“I’m sorry for the mistakes I make.

And, I know of none that can be retrieved.

They’re like the water over a dam.

To flow back, it cannot be achieved.

There are things I wish I had never said.

Now, I wish that I had bit my tongue instead.

To make another feel that pain,

For those thoughtless words, I am disdain.”

Repentance is an oath of virtue, and holding steadfastly to it requires strong willpower. The lord of the penitents, peace and blessings be upon him, says that one who repents sincerely and holds steadfastly to it has achieved the rank of a martyr, while the repentance of those who cannot free themselves from their sins and deviations, although they repent repeatedly, mocks the door toward which the truly repentant ones turn in utmost sincerity and resolution.

One who continues to sin after proclaiming a fear of Hell, who does not engage in righteous deeds despite self-proclaimed desires for Paradise, and who is indifferent to the Prophet’s way and practices despite assertions of love for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, cannot be taken seriously. This is also the case with one who claims to be sincere and pure-hearted, but spends his or her life oscillating between sin and repentance.

An initiate’s first station is repentance, while the second is Inabah (sincere penitence). While repentance requires the training of feelings, thoughts, and acts in order to move them from opposition to acceptance and obedience, sincere penitence demands a critique of the authenticity, sincerity, and sufficiency of that acceptance and obedience.

Repentance is a progressing or journeying toward Allah—that is, seeking to do what is pleasing to Allah and refraining from what is forbidden by Him. Sincere penitence is striving to live an upright life so that one may seek Allah’s pleasure in all actions and thoughts.”

Related Article: Mistakes

November 12, 2009  at 12 noon       (Spotlight)

An Interview with Author Lanaia Lee about Her Book on 2012

 Today we are discussing Author Lanaia Lee’s book “Skulls of Salvation” that is about how the ways of mankind have become so chaotic, and we need to mend our ways or on December 21, 2012 Mayan legend says, all life will end on earth that day. Join us as we discuss her book and the legend that coincides with the release of the new movie 2012 this weekend 11/14/09 to join the conversation call (374)994-2728

The Direct Link is:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lightwalker/2009/11/12/piercing-the-veil-of-religiousity-part-2

Go to www.blogtalkradio.com/lightwalker  or call    (347)994-2728  (347)994-2728 at 12 noon every Thursday to listen in and participate

November 15, 2009  Update

My Interview with Author Lanaia Lee was Terrific Lanaia helped to shed light on aspects of the Mayan prophecies of 2012 in particular the aspect of impending destruction, the galactic alignment, and history of similar prophecies within other cultures and around the world. We also discussed how her book which fits into the category of fantasy fiction gives a hopeful ending to the doom and destruction of the Mayan prophecy hence the title “Skulls of Salvation’

 Although Lanaia’s book is considered Fantasy Fiction it is richly woven with fact and history something that Lanaia takes great care and has a rich love of. This book definitely captivates your attention and keeps you stimulated by the facts, wisdom and, knowledge contained in its pages. We also discussed Lanaia’s personal story of adversity and hardship and how in spite of such event’s in her life she was able to tap into the beauty of her artistic literary skills locked deep within her and bring it out. Lanaia was absolutely terrific! 

Lightwalker RamonaJ